The sound system for industrial tool chests relates generally to stereo systems and more specifically to speaker boxes.
Technicians in shops and garages often like music while working. Music passes the time during difficult or boring tasks. Technicians have used portable stereos to provide that music. Portable stereos occupy valuable space on the workbench and get banged up and dirty. Portable stereos generally have poorer sound quality than a home stereo or car stereo system. In a shop, the lack of acoustics and shop background noise encourages technicians to play the portable stereos loud. The resulting sound may irritate management and customers in the shop.
In shops, technicians often utilize tool storage chests. The tool storage chests have various sizes and usually contain stacked drawers within a frame. The frame usually has wheels for movement of a loaded chest that may weigh in excess of five hundred pounds. Inside of the frame, outside of the stacked drawers, and beneath a chest, the frame has vacant space not normally used for tool storage but available for other purposes.
Generally, a stereo system includes speakers that have a magnet proximate to a rim. The rim attaches to an enclosure and denotes front in reference to a speaker. Opposite the rim, the magnet at the base of the diaphragm denotes rear inference to a speaker. Application of electricity to the voice coil from the amplifier or tuner of the stereo system cause motion of the diaphragm and induces sound waves. Typically the sound waves emanate from the diaphragm towards the front. Front sound waves or condensation can travel around the rim towards the rear. The front sound waves may cancel a portion of the rear sound waves, nearly eliminating woofer or bass sound frequencies.
To prevent cancellation of the rear sound wave, speakers generally have an enclosure. The enclosure permits propagation of front sound waves but the walls of the enclosure defeat a front sound wave that attempts to reach the rear. Defeating front sound waves is commonly called baffling. Some enclosures have a vent or port that releases sounds of resonant frequencies from within the cabinet.
The vacant interior space in the frame and beneath the chest provides rear sound wave baffling for speakers. Akin to a speaker box in a typical stereo, a tool chest encloses speakers and prevents cancellation. Bass and other resonant frequencies emanate from gaps between drawers and other gaps in the tool chest. The shop floor beneath the speakers provides a surface that directs sound into the shop as front sound waves bounce off the shop floor.